Category: Poland Research

Stephan Walas Sr was born in Olesnica, Poland on the 26th of December 1896. He was listed as a brother-in-law to my grandfathers first cousin when they arrived at Ellis Island in 1912.
There was a connection between these families based on genealogical records from Olesnica. I’m looking for a photo of Stephan and his wife mary, as i believe he may be in some of the wedding photos I have posted on this site.

I’ve been analyzing information from all my relatives’ who have graciously DNA tested for me. My paternal side has been very easy to trace, my maternal grandmother’s family however, has been difficult at best. Her family lived in the Skulsk and Warzymowo, Poland area. With vital records that I have located on her family, immigration information from her siblings who came to the United States, and a few obituaries that mention the family in Poland, its apparent that her family moving around very frequently. Toss a dart at that area of Poland and they were probably there. Two pages of village/town transitions.

I recall as a child my grandmother telling me her family traveled to Germany. I vaguely recall her mentioning Berlin as well, but I don’t recall the purpose of the trips. My family has no knowledge of any connection to Germany save for those few stories passed down.

Both my mom and her brother did genealogy DNA testing for me. I’ve noticed numerous autosomal matches to both that have family with very similar surnames to my maternal grandmother’s line. I’ve noted three changes in that family surname in the records I have on them. It was slight, but its following suit and is starting to help form the theory I’d had that part of my grandmothers family line was from Germany. Other than a hunch, I really had very little to go on. In comes DNA testing!

The advanced features on 23andme DNA tests, gives you a breakdown of where your chromosomes comes from. My X chromosome matches, the majority of them are coming from none other than Germany. Interestingly enough on 23andme, I also found out I have a large assortment of matches that have Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry, which is totally new to me! No one in my family, close or distant cousin has any knowledge of Jewish ancestry. To our knowledge we’ve always been Roman Catholic.

So utilizing an X-DNA inheritance chart-Male focus person, I entered what I knew of my family tree. (see chart below)

A male only gets one X- chromosome passed down from his mother, simple enough. A female receives one X- chromosome from her mother and one from her father. So I charted everything I knew.

My maternal grandfather came from Olesnica, Poland. He would have received his X- chromosome from his mother, Julianna Strzelecki and she would have received hers from her mother Antonina Ksen. The Ksen surname appears to have originated from Russian, Ukraine or Belarus.
I don’t have much to go on with the Lukasz Strzelecki’s wife Klara as of yet, but most of those records also originated from the Olesnica area. These towns are located towards Slovakia, Ukraine, & Belarus. Neither side is really matching the X- chromosome information I have.

My maternal grandmother, Helen Hasinska, her mother Walentyna Chabecka was born in Warzymowo, and her mother before her Katarzyna Witowska was born in Kalisz, with family in Byton, Poland. While I don’t have much to go on currently, this also is not really not matching the X-chromosome information. I also have reason to believe this part of the family came at some point from eastern Poland.

When I looked at my maternal grandmother Helen Hasinska father side, it started to take shape. Helen’s father was Michal Hasinski, born in Raciecin, Poland. Michal’s mother was Dorto Nejman. Again, not much to really go on, however when I did some research on the Nejman surname I found this: “Nejman Name Meaning Polish and Jewish (Ashkenazic): Polish form of German Neumann.” I’ve always wondered about this surname. It didn’t really sound like it was of 100% Polish origins, although that’s just an assumption.

The X- chromosome matches and the stories passed down are starting to have some merit. As well the recent discovery of Ashkenazic Jewish starts to fall into place.

Right now my theory is that my X- chromosome is inherited off of my second great grandmother’s line, Dorota Nejman which seems to have originated at this point from somewhere in Germany.

This might fluster some people, but to me this is a lead that I can’t overlook. It fits with my past theory and gives me something to go on relating to my grandmothers line. Now I just need to find a more information on my second great grandparents. I found a good amount of Nejman surnames linked to Parafia Broniszewo (pow. koniński) so we shall see what transpires.

Are you the descendant of Polish immigrants who settled in Dunkirk, Chautauqua County New York? Are you interested in finding out where your Polish bloodlines come from? Are you struggling doing research on your own? Let Mierzwa Genealogy Services help trace your ancestry past! Contact us today for your free consultation.

Over the last six months, I’ve been ordering and viewing the “Microfilm of original records in the Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville, New York, Naturalization records, 1837-1972.”
I’ve been searching for surnames I recognize and people who hailed from Pysznica, Poland and the surrounding areas that I’ve become so familiar with. If I locate a record, I snapshop it for future reference.

Recently I’ve had numerous DNA matches contact me, usually with an email of, “Hello: I see were related, etc, etc, ” I fully enjoy making DNA connections, and what better way to help extended family than to be prepared!

I decided to make a list of names of the people I have and where they are from. If you see a surname and you believe the listed person may be related to you, please contact me.

Most immigrants listed Poland or Austria for their home country (in this case anyways). This is because prior to World War I, Pysznica, Jastkowice, Klyzow & Kata were under Austrian ruler-ship.

UPDATED 3/8/2015
The names listed below are names taken from Skulsk & Warzymowo Poland birth, marriage & death records I have collected over the years.
The names are witness, informants and godparents of various members of my maternal grandmothers ancestry.
Contact me if any of the surnames match a family your researching!

The names listed below are names taken from Olesnica, Pacanow &amp; Kotuszow Swietokrzyskie Poland birth, marriage &amp; death records I have collected over the years.
The names are witness, informants and godparents of various members of my maternal grandfathers ancestry.
Contact me if any of the surnames match a family your researching!

Skusk, Poland holds a special place in my heart. The person who was the reason I got into genealogy, my maternal grandmother was born in Skulsk. She lived with my mom & dad till her passing in 1985. I spent countless hours listening to her tell me stories about her family, her village and her travels from Poland to America. It had a profound impact on me.

As a child I made a promise to her that someday I would go back to Poland and visit the areas she came from and find her family. In 2013 I took the voyage back and when I stood upon the grounds of Skulsk and Warzymowo, it was a very emotional experience.

Unfortunately I was unable to spend much time in Skulsk and her family surnames (Hasinski, Chabecki & Witowska) weren’t recognized by anyone we spoke with. I can only assume that somewhere within one of the local villages there is someone elderly who is a descendants of one of her two sisters that stayed behind.

Gathering genealogical records from this particular area has been difficult to say the least. Many records were lost and those that survived have gaps in them. My grandmothers birth date has always been a topic of controversy as she told most of the family she came over to America much younger than she actually was and lied about her age to get in.

One sister I know for sure that stayed behind was a Bronislawa (Barbara) Hasinska, who was born in Warzymowo on 17 May 1886. I know for sure she survived both WWI & WWII because my mom and her sister recall my grandmother sending packages to her sister when they were kids, and that was “after they had to hide if planes went overhead”. (they were told to hide when planes went overheard during WWII)

According to the story, my grandmother sent a wedding dress to her sister, for her either her niece or nieces daughters wedding.

I would presume with the time period being early to late 1940s, it would be her nieces daughter. Even being 1940, that’s only 74 years and chances are someone still survives.